In-person talks will be preceded by a phone conversation, Aleksandr Yunashev claims
A potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, will take months to organize and is not expected before at least March, Kremlin pool journalist Aleksandr Yunashev reported on Monday, citing sources.
Before in-person talks between the two leaders can occur, they are expected to hold phone conversations to discuss the details of the potential meeting and whether it will ultimately take place.
“Journalists can still speculate on the topic of the phone conversation, when exactly it will take place,” a source within the Russian presidency told Yunashev.
The meeting itself will likely take “months” to arrange and is unlikely to occur before Trump embarks on his first overseas trip, unnamed Russian diplomats have suggested. “I’m not sure that it will happen during the winter,” one source told the reporter.
Last Monday, Trump announced his plans to meet with Putin “very quickly” after being sworn in on January 20.
“I know he [Putin] wants to meet, and I’m going to meet very quickly,” the incoming US leader told Newsmax host Rob Schmitt. “I would have done it sooner, but… you have to get into the office.”
Earlier this month, Trump’s pick for US national security adviser, Michael Waltz, stated that preparations for a potential meeting were already “underway.” According to Waltz, phone talks between the two leaders were expected to take place shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
“We have not set an exact framework for it, yet we’re working on that. But I do expect a call at least in the coming days and weeks. That will be a step and we’ll take it from there,” Waltz said in an interview with ABC News.
Moscow has repeatedly signaled its readiness to communicate with the incoming US president, noting, however, that no exact details on when or where the meeting would take place have been set up.
